What's an algorithm? Besides being the answer to most interview questions, an algorithm is a way to solve a particular problem in programming.
Google Maps uses an algorithm to calculate driving directions through 3 cities while avoiding highways. Amazon uses an algorithm to figure out exactly what product to recommend to you next so that you'll blindly one-click it.
In this workshop, we will discuss what an algorithm is, introduce the idea of algorithmic complexity (big O notation), demonstrate sort and search algorithms (with a hands-on re-enactment), and finish with an overview of the many types of algorithms out there.
This workshop focuses on design-thinking for algorithms, which is a pre-requisite to expressing these ideas in code.
Topics covered:
• Defining an algorithm
• Data structures
• Time/space complexity
• Several sorting algorithms
• Binary search
• Algorithms in real life
PREREQUISITES
Attendees would benefit from a basic understanding of a programming language, like from JS 101, but that is not required.
TECH REQUIREMENTS
• Your laptop (Mac, PC, Linux) and charger
• A modern web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari)
If you do not have a laptop, please contact the instructors. We have a limited number of Chromebooks for students to borrow.
SLIDES
http://www.teaching-materials.org/algorithms/
PAYMENT
Payment is required to attend. If you'd like to attend but cannot afford the cost, click here to request a scholarship (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfiUBN4yve3L7iociXzcqNgEtrljsn_7mCgZ3eUtvAEr3bcQg/viewform). Due to a number of applications, only the scholarship recipients will receive an email a few days before the workshop. Thank you for your understanding!
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ABOUT THE TEACHER
Nicole Fish is a professional dancer turned psychology major turned software engineer. A fierce STEMinist dedicated to paying it forward, an impressive two-time college dropout, and a proud graduate of an all women’s coding bootcamp/ feminist utopia, she is passionate about building tools that empower people. As the primary front-end architect of the latest product at Elevate Security, she first pushed her code into production this month, which immediately vanquished her imposter syndrome.
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A great follow-up workshop to this one is our Whiteboarding Interview Prep on Saturday, September 29th (https://www.meetup.com/Girl-Develop-It-San-Francisco/events/253358377/).
